Following criticism, NVSC staff blew up – circulated a public speech

The Delfi portal provides NVSC employees with an application:

Appeal of unfounded criticism by NVSC employees

We call on you (Prime Minister, Minister of Health, media and public) to express our concern about the unfounded criticism of the National Center for Public Health under the Ministry of Health (NVSC). Constant and unfounded criticism of the institution and its manager interrupts the work of the NVSC, which already bears an unbearable burden: it creates public mistrust, making it especially difficult for NVSC employees to work during this difficult period. This also has a very negative effect on all employees of the institution who personally accept this criticism, as they work alongside the manager and make decisions together.

Without the constant support of the director of the institution, the operational decisions on redistribution of functions and optimization of processes, the situation would become unbearable for the employees of the institution. An attack on our institution demotivates and negatively affects NVSC employees, their emotional and mental health. After reading unsubstantiated statements in the press about the head of the NVSC, the staff anxiously contacted the head of the personnel department and asked him to explain why such things are happening, why no one wants to know what it is really like. We don’t have weekends, we no longer celebrate holidays. Both the director of the institution and all employees, excluding working hours, have been working under extreme conditions for almost a year. Many professionals have recently left work due to an unbearable workload.

All the staff of the institution: lawyers, accountants, personnel department are forced to postpone their direct duties – they all work for one goal – the management of the pandemic.

We respond to thousands of calls a day, respond to hundreds of letters, conduct hundreds of epidemiological studies, and survey thousands of residents. Yes, the volunteers help us, but they are not professionals, everything is new for them, so sometimes the work does not turn out as well as we would like. In addition, we face many obstacles on a daily basis: we need a wide range of reports, explanations and data from individual case studies, the preparation of which requires a lot of effort and time.

Research on the emotional state of employees has shown that NVSC employees feel endless tension and are exhausted because they are constantly under stress, anxiety, so a constant attack wastes their strength and takes away really valuable time. Every minute is invaluable, as it could be used to advise a resident in need of help, or to identify and isolate a person in contact, thereby protecting at least a dozen more people from infection.

Since the beginning of his mandate, the head of the NVSC has taken steps to optimize and digitize the processes, periodically (both in writing and verbally) to the Ministry of Health and other government officials, reporting on the huge workload and insufficient NVSC resources. The Ministry of Health has been informed for several years that the NVSC’s resources are insufficient and that the institution does not have the capacity to implement modern technologies and prepare for threat management, but unfortunately the necessary measures have not been taken. Both the director and other NVSC representatives also spoke on this issue in public. During the pandemic, the workload increased tenfold and resources increased only a small percentage.

In a situation like this, we lack mobilized leadership, because it is not the right time to find culprits and discuss the lack of preparation for the second wave. Obviously, the whole world is not properly prepared for this. Now is the time to focus and concentrate and find the most effective solutions together.

We agree that the overall performance of the country in managing a pandemic is not good, but it must be understood that an institution with limited resources cannot handle this level of emergency. This must be the result of the joint work of all the competent authorities.

Staff of the National Center for Public Health

We recall that on Tuesday 804 unaccounted deaths were found during the digitization of NVSC activities, almost half of which, 324 were due to the coronavirus (COVID-19). These data were obtained by comparing the October to December statistics from the NVSC and the Records Center.

The NVSC explained that the information related to the deaths is provided by medical institutions. Therefore, the current situation due to the high number of unreported deaths is due to possible delays or non-transmission of information from medical institutions.

Following this news, the government in a meeting on Wednesday instructed the Department of Statistics to conduct a COVID-19 statistical survey starting next year.

According to the Minister of Health Arūnas Dulkis, the objective of the study will be “to prepare, provide and publish operational and more detailed indicators of the prevalence, tests, morbidity, mortality, vaccination, activity and resources of the health institutions of COVID-19”. This, he said, would allow a more in-depth analysis of the pandemic and, in the future, “make informed management decisions and forecast the course of the pandemic”, selecting “conditions of quarantine, vaccination and other more precise and specific measures.”

Dulkys did not hide the fact that the amendments were also related to the fact that he was dissatisfied with “repeated inaccuracies due to various statistical issues”, and that these inaccuracies were “especially related to the activities of the National Center for Public Health”.

“I met with the director of the institution, we discussed various practical problems. I was not persuaded by the answers at the meeting, so I asked the director of the institution to provide me with a detailed assessment of the situation and circumstances in writing and reasons for the 804 unaccounted deaths identified.

It says that it has also requested a timeline for the digitization of all epidemiological studies in progress, a detailed explanation of how the obligation to assume the rights and responsibilities of the manager and manager of the information system of communicable diseases and pathogens is being implemented.

“Once I receive the explanations in writing, I will take concrete action,” he said.

The Minister of Economy and Innovation Aušrinė Armonaitė states that the activities of the NVSc and the inability to find contacts of an infected person is one of the biggest problems in managing the pandemic.

Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė also stated that the NVSC leadership should be held accountable for the situation.

The presidency stated that problems with NVSC data must be addressed by the ministry and the government.

“The president is confident in the activities of the government and the Ministry and hopes that these institutions, after conducting further analysis, will clarify the problems and resolve them,” said Simonas Krėpšta, adviser to the president.